Olivier Besancenot
Olivier Besancenot is a Kanjoran politician and member of the Parti Pour Paix et Progress. He was elected Président de la Confédération in October 2447 and again in 2450. Childhood Olivier was born in Atyr to working class parents in 2415. Growing up around labor unions and workers groups, he was inspired at an early age with ideals for progress for the masses. Even in high school Olivier was involved with student groups who pushed for more democracy in school administration. It was as a teenager that Olivier created the motto that would later become his party's: "Nos vies valent plus que leurs profit!" Translated from the French, it means "Our lives are worth more than their profit." Early Political Career Dropping out of university and abandoning dreams for a political degree, Olivier joined Communist Organizations in Sovalt and promoted revolution against the perceived "repression" of the time. In 2440 Olivier was imprisoned for his participation in a protest that turned violent. It was after this that Olivier met a certain Pierre Etienne and his priorities began to change. Founding of the PPPP Olivier has continually refused to reveal anything personal about the mysterious figure that is Pierre Etienne. He will however tell the story of how he received a strange telephone call several days after he was released from prison telling him of a new political movement developing that held real promise for Kanjor. The caller was Pierre Etienne, who would go on to lead the Parti Pour Paix et Progress and be Premier Minstre de la Confédération de Kanjor. Olivier claims that he and Pierre have met face to face three times: once with just the two of them after that phone call and twice with a very small group of founding members of the PPPP including François Bayrou, the man who Olivier would succeed as président. Olivier continued with his story to tell how that first meeting with Pierre was a revelation for him that turned him from ideas of violent revolution towards plans for peaceful social progress. As part of a small group of intellectual leaders numbering fewer than ten, Olivier was a part of the founding of the PPPP in 2443 and led youth programs and other initiatives for the party until he received the party's nomination for président in 2447. Presidency Not contrary to most predictions, Olivier won the presidential election of 2447 by a comfortable margin. He was reelected in 2450 for a second term without issue. Président Besancenot was ousted from office in 2452 when the PPPP sustained major losses and was relegated to the status of a minor party. After Presidency In September of 2453, more than a year after the end of his presidency, Besancenot left party leadership and led a private life with his family on the southern shores of Tondola Isle. As his replacement in leadership and as the party's presidential candidate Olivier instated his political protégé and mistress Zéphyrine Renard. He died peacefully in 2487, mercifully before he would have to see his beloved party enter its Âge de Merdre. Category:Kanjorien people